Monday, November 09, 2009

Who bugs the buggers?

I've just been flicking through my newly arrived copy of NORML News. Then this story jumps out at me:

SIS denies NORML's file

New Zealand's Chief Spook has refused to release any files it may hold on NORML, the ALCP, or the NORML News Editor...

NORML News editor Chris Fowlie then wrote to the SIS requesting anything held on himself, NORML or the ALCP. After a lengthy delay SIS director Warren Tucker said he would "neither confirm nor deny the existence or non-existence of that information."

Read the full story in NORML News, on sale here. Needless to say this concerns me mightily. SIS director Warren Tucker is playing Shrodinger's cat silly buggers with my privacy.

I've been mulling a request to the SIS for a copy of my file for a while. Y'know, just to check it's accurate and all. There's a fine line between Buttle and Tuttle after all. But I keep coming up with the more profound question. Why would the SIS have a file on me?

I can understand that Baycorp/ Veda Advantage/ HueyDueyLouie Corp has found a profitable way to live off my credit history file, and they keep lobbying to make their job even more profitable at my expense. But why on Dagg's earth are the state spooks picking on the marijuana hippies?

When is the last time you heard of stoners overthrowing anything? Never. The Rugby Sevens, the Undie 500, and the Rugby World Cup will inflict more damage on the national wellbeing than anything a J Day could accomplish. On the contrary, one of the more non-violent ways to break up a riot is to douse them in marijuana smoke. It works like a bucket of water on fighting cats.

As I've pointed out a few days ago, there are more pertinent threats to keep the spook budget busy. Who else does the SIS keep a file on? David Farrar? No Right Turn? Russell Brown? Eric Crampton? Where does the SIS remit stop? Where is the accountability?

Chris Fowlie is taking the matter up with the Privacy Commissioner. I might just ping an OIA for my file from the SIS too. I challenge my fellow bloggers to do the same and see how far this thing goes.